CHANGE

Use this primary command to locate and replace one or more occurrences of a character string in the data being edited.

The CHANGE command only affects the record you have zoomed in on.

After the data has been changed, File Manager places the cursor at the beginning of the changed string, automatically scrolling, if necessary, to bring the string into view.

Figure 1. Syntax

Notes:

¹ If none of these parameters (X, EX, or NX) are specified, excluded and non-excluded records are searched.

Parameters

ALL

Causes the search to begin at the top of the data and find and replace all occurrences of the string. If you do not limit the search to non-excluded records, then all excluded records containing the string are shown and replaced.

col1

The first column to be included in the range of columns to be searched. Must be greater than or equal to 1, and less than or equal to the maximum record length.

col2

The last column to be included in the range of columns to be searched. Must be greater than or equal to col1 and less than or equal to the maximum record length. If not specified, the last column of the record is used.

EX

Excluded records only.

label1

Label identifying the start of a range of records. The label must start with a period (.) followed by one to four alphabetic characters (no numeric or special characters). Labels starting with the letter “Z” indicate an editor-assigned label.

label2

Label identifying the end of a range of records. The label must start with a period (.) followed by one to four alphabetic characters (no numeric or special characters). Labels starting with the letter “Z” indicate an editor-assigned label.

NX

Non-excluded records only.

string1

The string you want to search for. The string can be:

A character string not starting or ending with a quotation mark and not containing any embedded blanks or commas. The case of the string is ignored. Uppercase and lowercase representations of the same character match. For example, the following command changes the strings black, Black, and BLACK:
```
CHANGE black white
```
A character string enclosed in quotation marks. The string can contain blanks and commas. The case of the string is ignored. For example, 'Exact string' matches 'exact string'. The string can be a null string (''). If string1 is a null string, string2 is inserted at the current column position.
C followed by a character string enclosed in quotation marks (C'Frog'), or a character string enclosed in quotation marks followed by C ('Frog'C). The string can contain blanks and commas. The string must match exactly (including case). For example, C'Exact string' does not match C'exact string'. The string can be a null string (''). If string1 is a null string, string2 is inserted at the current column position.
X followed by a hexadecimal string enclosed in quotation marks (X'C1C2'), or a hexadecimal string enclosed in quotation marks followed by X ('C1C2'X).

string2

The string you want to replace string1. The string can be:

A character string not starting or ending with a quotation mark and not containing any embedded blanks or commas. If CAPS ON or CASE UPPER is in effect, string2 is translated to uppercase.
A character string enclosed in quotation marks. It can contain blanks and commas. Case is respected and retained unless CASE UPPER is in effect, in which case string2 is translated to uppercase. The string can be a null string ('').
X followed by a hexadecimal string enclosed in quotation marks (X'C1C2'). If CASE UPPER is in effect, all hexadecimal representations of lowercase characters are translated to their equivalent uppercase characters.

X

Same as EX.

See CHANGE/CX primary command for more information about the parameters used with the CHANGE primary command.